Sleeping in a Cave
by Aprila
Summary: DG Ginny sneaks into Hogsmeade and can't get back to the castle. She has to find a place to sleep and meets up with an unlikely, and wanted, boy covered in dirt and sleeping in a cave. A strange sort of relationship emerges. HBP compliant.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I've got a bit of writer's block with my other story, "In the Grey," so here is a little bunny that has been hopping around in my head. It was supposed to be a oneshot, but I don't think it is going to happen. Harry Potter belongs to JKR.

----

Ginny Weasley liked to tell herself that she was just bored. But she knew that the truth was far deeper than that. She was bored because she didn't want to deal with emotions like hurt, anger, or depression. Instead she made a point to stay constantly busy, which was impossible, so she stayed constantly bored _wishing_ she were busy. Without her brother, her ex, and her bushy-haired best friend around, Hogwarts had become an unpleasant, no, she would correct herself, boring place to be.

Without the trio who could never manage to stay out of trouble, Ginny had to find her own ways of spicing up her life. She was not one to mope. But what was there to do in a big castle all alone? Sure she was technically not _alone_, but at times one can feel completely alone, though surrounded by people. The problem was that she had never really liked to spend a lot of time with girls- they were too high maintenance; and boys generally saw past her talent and wit to see a flattering figure, and she was through playing the boy scene after her brief romance with the boy who lived.

The month prior, Ginny had finally taken the time out of her "busy" schedule to pore over the map that Harry had given her. Days before he and the others disappeared to do whatever their chosen task was, he had pulled her aside and given her the Marauder's Map. He called it a "defense mechanism." She supposed she was supposed to use it to make sure that no one was in the castle that wasn't supposed to be, and if they were, then she should use it to find a safe place to hide. As if Ginny Weasley had ever been one to hide in a broom closet when in danger. For the sake of sending Harry away on a positive note, however, she had forced a smile and a thank you.

The map was not, however, as ludicrous an idea as she had once thought, though of course not for the reasons it was given to her. Ginny quickly noted the passages out of the school- the perfect remedy for her boredom and her trouble-free semester. Surely anyone who found out would murder her- be it an Order member or a Death Eater- and possible death sounded much more exciting than writing a Muggle Studies essay on dishwashers. Of course, she didn't want to die, or really even put herself in any real danger, but she had been so far removed from any information about the war that it no longer seemed real- or maybe she didn't want it to.

Nevertheless, she began planning an escape to Hogsmeade on a particularly dull weekend. She figured that to get out of the castle would be wonderful. She could have some butterbeer, buy some jokes, and gorge herself on sweets. She didn't really put a whole lot of thought into how she would disguise herself so that she wouldn't get caught, but she figured no one would care anyway. It was, of course, completely misguided of her to think that villagers wouldn't notice a Hogwarts student traipsing around the town, but such was her logic at the time.

The sun had finally set, and Ginny was ready to make her escape via the hunch-backed witch. She grabbed a few things, suited up for the night chill and snuck down to the statue and into the passage without a hitch. And that is when she got a little too over confident.

-----

Ginny crouched in the corner of Honeyduke's cellar waiting impatiently for the pudgy old clerk to go back upstairs. _Honestly_, she thought, _this is absolutely ridiculous. Who is even watching the shop while he is down here? I wouldn't be surprised if he made himself comfortable and had a little sit-down with a box of chocolates. _And that is precisely what the man did. Ginny rocked back onto her ankles and sighed audibly.

The man looked startled and gazed into the shadowy corner that she sat in. Ginny covered her mouth, partly in horror that she had been stupid enough to make a sound and partly to stop herself giggling, because the look on the poor man's face was positively priceless. Any thought of giggling was quickly quelled, however, as the pudgy man started to move toward her, his wand held high.

"Who's over there?" he called. Ginny's eyes widened. _Why hasn't he just used lumos and gotten this awful situation over already?_

"Jasper, what on earth is taking you so long? You were supposed to grab some cockroach clusters and get right back!"

The pudgy man, Jasper, grimaced, and Ginny shoved a wad of her robe into her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. He glanced once more at her corner, then longingly at his pile of chocolates before heading up the stairs replying, "On my way."

Ginny rolled her eyes at the whole situation, then stealthily slipped up the stairs and past poor Jasper who was being scolding for forgetting to bring up the cockroach clusters, which was the whole purpose of his fifteen minute sojourn downstairs.

Once outside of the shop, she drew a deep breath of chilly air and reveled in the feeling of freedom. It had been so long since she had been able to escape the watchful eyes of her professors, parents, and the Order members. Too long, she decided.

She quickly and discreetly made her way toward the Three Broomsticks, but stopped short and darted into a shadow as she heard the booming voice of her potions teacher, Professor Slughorn. _Blast! How many things can go wrong in one night? _she thought bitterly. More than she expected. The Hog's Head was out of the question for a quick butterbeer, because she knew that she would be recognized without a doubt, and probably not by anyone respectable. Now the Three Broomsticks was vetoed on account of her professor who would surely have her expelled, Slug Club, or not.

_Off to Zonko's then_, she though disappointedly. The butterbeer would have helped to warm her chilled bones. When she neared the shop, though, she saw that her bad luck was only beginning. _Closed! How can it be closed! Bloody Voldemort and his bloody Death Eaters ruining all of my fun! _

Ginny soon found out, however, that Voldemort was not the only reason for closed shops. Her idea to come after sunset so that she wouldn't stand out as much was apparently a bad one. Most shops that had remained open despite heightened security closed early. Usually at sundown. But of course poor Ginny wasn't really thinking about that, but about the freedom of the outside world and the exhilaration of rule breaking.

She disappointedly made her way back to Honeyduke's so that she could just go back to the castle and get in her warm bed. What she found when she arrived at the shop, however, was not a pleasant sight.

"CLOSED." _Closed! Closed! How the bloody hell do you expect me to get home! Sweets shop indeed! You are nothing but a bunch of mean-spirited, pudgy, candy-eaters! How dare you lock me out! _

"How dare you!" she shouted and rapped loudly on the glass. A light flashed on a back room, and a light bulb flickered on in Ginny's head. _Bad idea! _she thought, and she ran for it, vaguely registering the sound of a door opening behind her and hushed voices.

Ginny ran to the gate of the Shrieking Shack, intending to go through its passage and somehow, though she had no idea how yet, get past the Whomping Willow. Unfortunately, the moon had an eerie effect on the shack, and though Ginny would never admit it, it looked terrifying. She sunk to the ground in frustration.

_This is amazingly ridiculous! I can't even sneak out properly! Well I suppose the sneaking out worked just fine; it is the getting in that is the problem… _She groaned as a shiver ran up her spine. _I suppose I'll need to get out of the night wind and find somewhere to stay the night._

Ginny had always been very independent, so she was not really worried about spending the night alone outside Hogsmeade, war or no. She quickly ran through a list of ideas in her head and settled upon looking for the cave that Harry told her about when they were sneaking out to see Sirius.

The going was difficult, especially without light to guide her way; Ginny was not foolish enough to broadcast her presence in such a way, so she stumbled up the hill and through the branches. Finally she found a place the rock where the moonlight was swallowed into a gaping hole. _Perfect._

Ginny quietly made her way to the cave, but just as she stepped in, she saw a movement and aimed a quick "Stupefy" at the shadow. She heard a decidedly non-animalistic groan as the shadow fell to the ground. She checked outside the cave to make sure she was alone before moving forward to see what, or who, she had just stunned. It was not, as she had suspected, just some wild creature.

It was a boy. A platinum-haired, pale-faced, Malfoy boy to be precise. Ginny drew an enormous breath and nearly fell to the ground.

_Malfoy. Dumbledore's would-be murderer. The reason Bill is… the way he is. The snot-faced little git who had made my life hell since before I started Hogwarts. _Ginny shook her head in disbelief.

Malfoy was missing. Well, not to Ginny any longer, but to the wizarding world Malfoy was a missing, and wanted, man. After he and Snape fled the castle, neither had been seen. Until now.

_What should I do?_ Ginny had no idea how to proceed. She stared at his prone body for what seemed like ages before she realized that she should at least bind him and take his wand in case he came around before she figured out how to handle the situation. So she did and continued to stare. She was in shock.

_What the bloody hell is he doing out here? And why is he covered in dirt? His pallid skin is paler than ever, and his pointy face is bonier than ever. And what the bloody hell is he doing out here? _she repeated.

She ran through possible plans of action, but most of them required her to explain what exactly she had been doing in a cave outside Hogsmeade in the middle of the night. And that just did not sound like a good idea.

Then there were the conflicting ideas of if she were to turn him in, to whom would she do it? The Ministry wanted him for an accomplice in murder. The Order wanted him for… protection, she assumed. She had overheard the older members arguing with Harry about the boy- they wanted to protect him as Harry had told them Dumbledore had offered. Harry was incensed that they would even consider it after the destruction he had caused. Ginny supposed she could see both sides… to a degree. Though the thought of him rotting away in Azkaban was much more satisfying than the thought of him haughtily wandering around Grimmauld Place.

Hours later, after lots of shivering, staring, and incoherent thoughts, the subject of Ginny's confusion awoke. She was immediately roused from her blank expression as she heard a cough and saw him struggle to sit up, then gasp and turn his head toward her and her lighted wand.

The next day, after a bit more sleep and contemplation, Ginny determined that the look on his face in that moment was heart breaking, but at time it just seemed crazed.

"Weasley!" Malfoy choked out. He looked down at his bound hands and feet, then crazily around the room as if looking for everyone else.

Ginny furrowed her brow and continued to stare. After a few moments, though, as Malfoy stared intently out the mouth of the cave, she wondered if he saw someone she didn't, and she grabbed up her wand and spun quickly around in defense. It was lucky for her that there actually was no one, because her spin resulted in a painful crashing of her skull into the low ceiling of the cave, and she doubled over in pain clutching her head.

Then Malfoy had the nerve to laugh at her. Not a spiteful laugh, or a happy laugh, but one of those maniacal crazed laughs that are truly terrifying, and Ginny looked wide-eyed up at him from her position on the floor a few feet away. He quickly stopped.

Ginny swallowed and took a deep breath while rubbing the lump on her head. "Does anyone else know you are out here, Malfoy?"

Crazed Malfoy quickly assumed a face she recognized well, the Malfoy sneer. "Oh yes, I send postcards to my friends at the Ministry at least once a week. And my father, how he and the Dark Lord must miss me, we converse by lengthy owl post as often as I can spare the time."

Ginny rolled her eyes, no Malfoy had not changed a bit- well maybe he had… gone mental. She wondered if he really was mental and if he was actually trying to send those letters. _He probably ties them to poor little forest sparrows that cant hold the weight and end up pecking the letters off as soon as they get out of his sight. _The thought of Malfoy luring sparrows into his cave and tying letters to their tiny legs caused her to laugh out loud.

Crazy-eyed Malfoy was back, though, and Ginny didn't appreciate it one bit, so she quickly stifled her laugh. Malfoy looked at her calculatingly for a moment then asked, "Are you mental?"

"Oh, yes, I am, Malfoy. That is why I am living in a cave sending off letters to Voldemort tied to sparrows."

"Sparrows? You know they couldn't hold the weight of a letter…"

"But honestly, does anyone know you are out here? Anyone at all?"

"They didn't. Now I'm sure half the bloody country does thanks to you."

"I'll have you know that I was very quiet on my way up here, and I was not followed, thank you very much."

Malfoy gave her one of those looks that would have made Einstein feel like an idiot. "Are you really that big of an imbecile?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I meant that you have probably already alerted your precious Potter and half the Ministry by now. Maybe even the Muggle Prime Minister. Just to be safe."

"I'll have you know that I have done no such thing… yet."

Malfoy looked taken aback. "You haven't told anyone?"

"… no?" _I should have lied, _Ginny thought, _now if he murders me no one will know. If he knew someone was coming he wouldn't dare try anything. Oh you are a clever one… _

Malfoy breathed in a sigh of relief, leaned back against the wall, and let his eyes flutter shut. From behind closed eyes, he asked, "Why not?"

"I couldn't decide who to tell. Or if it was worth sacrificing my own life to have you caught."

"Yeah, just what are you doing in my cave in the middle of the night anyway?"

"I snuck out," she said simply.

Malfoy's eyes opened, and he stared at her dumbfounded. "The entire wizarding world is at war, and you just… snuck out?"

Ginny nodded. _Well, when he puts it that way, I feel like a bit of a moron, don't I?_

"Right. Well, you are either completely mental or really brave… and still completely mental."

"Yes, well, at least I am not living in a cave. And… and I'm wearing clean robes. You're all," she motioned toward him, "covered in dirt."

"I can hardly pop into the dry cleaners, can I?"

"It's your own fault, really."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "Is there a reason that you have intruded on my solitude, besides the fact that I am covered in dirt and that you were bored?"

"I couldn't get back into the castle, could I? My passage was blocked, and I had to get out of the night air. Sirius Black stayed here once. I thought I could too, you know. I never thought it would be such a sought after location."

Malfoy wrinkled his nose. "That filthy Black lived here? That's it. I'd rather go sleep on the Ministry's doorstep. Unbind me so I can get away from here."

"Oh right, he's a pureblood, and he supposedly murdered the Potters and a load of muggles. I'm sure you can't stand the man. Have nothing in common, do you?"

"You know he was framed as well as I. I will not praise him for something he did not do. As for being a pureblood, he was a blood traitor just like you, and we all know how much I want to flee from the sight of you and your filthy red hair."

"Just shut up, Malfoy. Why does it always come down to you throwing that blood traitor crap at me?"

Malfoy looked completely taken aback. "Did you tell me to shut up?"

"Yes."

"You… you shut up."

Ginny sniggered. "No, you shut up."

Malfoy frowned. "No, you."

"You."

"You."

"This is really childish, you realized that, right, Malfoy?"

And Malfoy began to laugh. Not a crazy laugh this time, but a genuine one. So Ginny did too.

"Completely nutters, that one," Ginny muttered under her breath as she regained control of her heaving sides.

"So what are you going to do with me?" Malfoy asked after a period of thoughtful silence.

"I haven't decided."

"If you don't mind," he replied carefully, "I'd rather not go to Azkaban."

Ginny eyed him. "Tell me why I shouldn't do it then."

Malfoy sighed. "Because I didn't… kill him. I tried, don't get me wrong, but I didn't. I didn't really want to. I was trying to protect my Mum. Then he offered protection for her, and you know. I didn't do it."

"But you opened the path for all of those Death Eaters into the school. A lot of people were hurt. My brother was one of them."

He sat in silence for a few moments, and then so quietly that she almost didn't hear it, he said, "I'm sorry."

"You're what! Did you just apologize? What the bloody hell have you done to Draco Malfoy, and where are you keeping your polyjuice potion?"

Malfoy blinked a few times, then looked at her to see a smirk on her face. "Right, well, if that's what I get for apologizing I take it back."

"Apology accepted. I'm sure you didn't really mean it, but the fact that you even forced it out of your mouth and directed it at a blood traitor is progress enough for one night."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "But seriously, the sun is coming up, what are you going to do with me? This being at your mercy thing is getting a bit annoying, really."

Ginny turned to see the first flecks of color in the sky. "So it is. I'll have to get back to the castle soon." She sat thoughtfully for a few moments. "Why are you sleeping in a cave, Malfoy?"

"Are you serious? I've got the ministry after me for an accomplice to murder and the Dark Lord after me for a failed murder. Hiding is precisely where I need to be right now."

Ginny sighed and stood up. She walked to the front of the cave and peered out before returning to Malfoy. "What do you eat? I am famished, and I doubt Honeyduke's will open at the crack of dawn."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Honeyduke's has a passage to Hogwarts? Interesting." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Food?" she reminded him.

He frowned, and then said, "I've got a loaf of bread behind that stone in the corner."

Ginny walked over, and saw a small loaf of bread. She carried it over to where Malfoy had sat bound all night and sat cross-legged facing him.

"I don't fancy feeding you by hand, so I am going to unbind you, but I still have your wand, and if you try anything funny I will snap it in half."

Malfoy nodded, and Ginny removed the invisible binds holding his hands and feet. She handed him most of the bread, just tearing off a small piece for herself.

"You need it more than me, and I wouldn't take any at all, but I am starving. Sorry," she said.

"That's okay… Thanks for taking off the binding."

Ginny smiled. "Now that sounded much more genuine than your apology earlier! And you are welcome," she added seeing his face sour.

The unlikely pair sat in silence for a bit munching on their stale bread before Ginny finally said, "I won't tell anyone."

Malfoy looked at her appraisingly for a moment before saying, "Thank you."

Ginny nodded, stood, and made for the door. At the entrance, though, she stopped and turned. "You may need this, Malfoy," she said, and tossed him his wand. Were it not for his quidditch reflexes, she was sure it would have clattered to the floor at his feet based on the stunned look on his face. "Don't do anything stupid," she warned as she left the cave without turning back.

Draco Malfoy was stunned silent.

---

AN: No, definitely not a oneshot. Shoot me a review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I'm ba-ack. Thanks for the reviews I got for part one. And on with the show!

----

For the beginning of her sixth year, Ginny had removed herself from any semblance of reality at Hogwarts. It was a defensive maneuver. If she ignored the people around her, she wouldn't get hurt when something happened to them. If she ignored the war, she could live in somewhat blissful ignorance and worry more about how she wished she had someone to stir up trouble with. Instead of handling the things going on around her, she petulantly pushed them off and pretended nothing had happened.

But now there was a problem with her plan. Draco Malfoy was sleeping in a cave, and for some reason, she couldn't seem to forget about it. When her mind wandered, it flitted over images of the usually impeccable boy, his face smeared with dirt and his robes torn. As she sat down in the Great Hall, her rumbling stomach reminded her that his was probably rumbling louder. As she walked through the cool passages under the premise of doing her evening prefect rounds, the chill in the air recalled that he was probably colder.

Ginny Weasley's feigned indifference to the outside world seemed to be crashing, and she was furious. Every time she remembered his pathetic cave existence, she pushed the telltale ache out of her heart, and instead Weasley temper came out full force. How dare he intrude on her apathy? In double potions one afternoon, she had half convinced herself that he had done it on purpose as some sort of conspiracy against her, when she managed to blow up her caldron in her fury.

----

"Miss Weasley! What on earth are you doing?"

Ginny gritted her teeth and looked up from her sodden robes to Professor Slughorn, who was looking mightily disappointed. She generally showed great promise and talent in potions, but ever since Malfoy had traipsed into her brain she seemed to be making all sorts of mistakes.

"Sorry, sir," she began before a tingling sensation began in her fingertips. Alarmed, she looked down at her arms, which had begun to turn greenish and swell. "Uh, sir?"

Slughorn looked up and immediately his expression changed. "Dear lord, child! Don't just leave it on you! Get up to the hospital wing immediately."

Leaving all of her things behind, Ginny made a mad dash to the hospital wing, unsure of how long before the tingling would start in her feet, and if it would impair her running ability.

When Ginny arrived with green, swollen arms and legs, Madam Pomfrey tutted and scolded her about proper potions care as she made a quick task of removing the spoiled potion from her skin. She easily changed her skin tone back to normal, but sat Ginny down on a cot and demanded she drink a foul smelling potion if she wanted the swelling to go down anytime in the next week. As Ginny didn't particularly like have appendages that looked like balloon animals, she consented and choked down the awful liquid.

The hospital wing generally proves a perfect place to do some good, solid thinking. Madam Pomfrey was very strict about bed rest for any ailment from near-death to a stubbed toe, so one could often sit in solitude and reflect.

_It is all his fault_, Ginny decided. _Why couldn't the prat just sleep in a house like everyone else? I wanted that cave! _Of course, this line of thought was childish and petulant, but if she remained irritated with him, she could ignore the voice deep down that told her that she should be sorry for him.

_Sorry for Draco Malfoy? The amazing, bouncing ferret incarnate? No thanks; I think I'll stick to hating him and his Death Eater ways._ Ginny wondered idly if you could still be considered a Death Eater if all of the other Death Eaters wanted to kill you. She frowned. Perhaps not.

_That doesn't make him any less of a spoiled, closed-minded, bigoted, arrogant git. I'd like nothing more than to call the Ministry right now and send him to Azkaban so that I can move on with my life. _And yet, that didn't seem right. She had seen that look on his face when he first noticed her presence- it wasn't the look of a crazed murderer, as she had liked to believe. No, it was more akin to terror, helplessness, and pleading. How could you turn someone over to the dementors in such a state? Not that the dementors were doing much of a job protecting Azkaban anyway.

Ginny sighed. _Here it comes again_, she thought. _Now for the completely foreign feeling of actually pitying that brat. _Some part of her knew that turning Malfoy in to the Ministry was a bad idea, and that no matter how much protection they gave him, turning him in to the Order would ruin his pride. Plus Harry would probably kill him anyway. And yet she couldn't justify just leaving him out there to rot in a cave.

A week later on another particularly boring Saturday afternoon, she made up her mind to go out and talk to him again. She would bring him some food and some blankets as a sort of peace offering, and find out why on earth she pitied the creature. Just before nightfall, she stealthily left the castle bearing her offering and made straight for the cave without any of the ridiculousness of her last journey to Hogsmeade.

Around the bend, just before she reached the cave, Ginny suddenly stopped and looked at her parcel. _What am I doing here?_ she thought. _I could be curled up by the fire in the common room reading a good book, and instead I am fighting the night chill to bring blankets and food to my nemesis. There must be something wrong with me. I've got to be under Imperio or something. _Ginny shuddered to think what would happen to her if she was being controlled and she showed up, but she recognized this train of thought as another of her defensive mechanisms. _Don't be an idiot, Ginny_, she thought. _Remember when the imposter Moody put you under the Imperius curse? Nothing like this. You are doing this out of your own… compassion, yuck… for Malfoy._

After a deep breath, Ginny carefully made her way toward the cave. She peered in from the entrance to find it empty. No person and no sign of a person.

"Malfoy?" she called, but there was no response. She debated whether or not she should stick around to see if he came back. Finally she decided to leave her parcel at the back of the cave and leave, not wanting to be caught in some conspiracy against herself.

As Ginny picked her way through the trees, though, she decided to pause and watch the mouth of the cave for a few minutes. She sunk to the ground in the long shadow of a tree. She didn't have to wait more than fifteen minutes before she saw the blonde figure sneak into the cave. Ginny stood. She had already stayed longer than she intended, and the sun had little more time in the sky that evening. She knew that tonight she did not want to sleep in a cave. As she turned, though, a movement caught her attention at the mouth of the cave.

Draco Malfoy stood at the cave entrance with a blanket draped over his shoulder and chewed merrily on the chicken she had left. Ginny decided that it was the first time she had ever seen him smile like that, and it was a nice sight. She shook her head and stole back into town.

----

It was a wonder that Honeyduke's remained open after all of the mysterious occurrences in the previous weeks. Doors were opening seemingly of their own accord. Things were moving around in the basement. And just last week a customer complained that the box of chocolate frogs they purchased was completely empty. The phenomena were happening with more frequency, but as none of it seemed malevolent, they went on about their business.

----

Ginny had made it a point to visit at least every weekend. She went to the cave and deposited some snacks and things for Malfoy. Once she even gave him a package full of chocolate frogs, just for fun. She stopped trying to blame things on the boy, and even had the decency to be ashamed of all of her sneaking around. She wondered what her mother would do to her if she ever found out that her only daughter was sneaking out of the protections of Hogwarts to bring little treats to Draco Malfoy, family enemy number one.

Not that she ever saw Malfoy, of course; he always managed to go into hiding before she got there. One Thursday night she finished her homework early and decided to take him a copy of the potions book he had been working on. He always seemed to be really good at potions and figured it must be terribly boring sleeping in a cave, so it seemed a thoughtful gift.

The thoughtful gift, however, seemed to catch her little friend off guard. As Ginny stepped into the cave that Thursday evening, she could hear leaves rusting and branches snapping as someone quickly ran away. She chuckled and went home, as per usual.

Tonight, though, Ginny planned to stick around a bit longer. She wanted to talk to Malfoy, because Merlin knows she didn't find much companionship at school, and he was probably starved for attention.

As she made her way toward the cave with her extravagant dinner for the evening, Ginny thought, _Poor bloke is probably going crazy up here. Talking to mice and such, I bet. _Then she grinned down at her dinner. _There is no way he will be able to resist coming to talk today._

As she entered the empty cave, she noticed the little pile of his things in the corner had actually grown a bit. Sometime in the last week Malfoy even seemed to have fashioned a couple of chairs. _Fancies a bit of company, it seems, _she thought. _Why else would he have made two?_

She kneeled on the ground and spread a blanket, then began to carefully place the steaming products of elvish cooking. The smell was torture, as it had been for the entire trip there, but she made her way to a chair, away from the food, and made herself comfortable.

It was almost an hour before Ginny heard Malfoy approaching. _Lucky I put a heating charm on the food or it would be completely cold by now, _she thought as she looked expectantly at the entrance.

Malfoy stood at the mouth of the cave bathed in moonlight with his arms crossed and said without any hint of a question, "You didn't leave."

Ginny smiled, "No, otherwise I would not be here."

"Why? What makes you…" but he trailed off as he seemed to notice the feast for the first time. At that moment Ginny's stomach rumbled particularly loudly.

"Will you get in here already? I am starved, and it would have been rude to start without you."

Draco dropped his arms and looked from her to the food and then around outside the cave. Seemingly satisfied that he was not being set up, he entered and sat cross-legged in front of the food.

"Pardon my tardiness," he said as he grabbed a plate and piled it high.

Ginny smiled and quickly joined him on the blanketed ground. "Pumpkin juice?" she asked motioning toward his empty glass.

"Yes, thank you."

Ginny tried to stifle a smile as she poured the juice for him. Just as she set the pitcher down, however, her smile dropped as she heard him say, "So you finally learned that blood traitors are as lowly as house elves, have you?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed and her head shot up to look at him. _How dare he! After all I have done for him! He sits there and insults me, and… laughs at me?_

"You were mad," Malfoy said through a smile as he carefully dabbed his napkin at the corners of his mouth.

"Well, of course I was mad. Am mad," she spluttered. "What is going on? Did you just try to make a joke?"

"I'm pretty sure I just did, but it may not have been received as I thought it would. No maybe it was. I don't know. I'll try harder next time."

Ginny stared blankly at the blonde as he made a show of carefully slicing his beef into small pieces and elegantly put one into his mouth. He raised his eyes to her and cocked an eyebrow. Then her stomach rumbled again, and he laughed.

"You should eat soon before your stomach starts digesting itself."

Ginny shook her head. "What?"

"Can't you do that yourself? I would offer to unbind you so that I don't have to feed you myself, but your hands are not bound. I'm afraid unbinding you would be of no service at all."

Again Malfoy elegantly raised a small forkful of food and chewed. His pristine dinner manners were in high contrast to the abominable state of his attire. Another particularly loud rumble from Ginny's stomach seemed to break her from her reverie. She looked at him and shook her head again as if to clear the fog from her brain, and then she laughed and picked up a fork.

"I'm not really used to that."

"Joking? Aren't you brothers the masters of jokes?"

"They'll be happy to hear that. I'll be sure and tell them you said so."

Malfoy's eyes widened in shock, and he almost blurted out a plea for her not to tell, then he realized that she was smiling at him in the way that is always meant to portray innocence but gives away mischievousness. "They'd think you were barking. Maybe you are."

"Indeed, maybe I am," she replied. His table, or in this case cave floor, etiquette was fascinating. _I suppose it is a product of all of those dinner parties of the elite_. She commented, "I'm surprised that after so long eating whatever rubbish I bring you, that you aren't just stuffing your face with all of this food. You are so… proper."

"You brought a feast, and I thought I should behave accordingly, rocky floor or not. I suppose after supper you will entertain me with a song at the pianoforte? No, no I suppose not," he looked around, "it doesn't seem you've brought one along, and my humble abode does not sport one yet. I'll be sure to have one for your next visit."

Ginny cracked a huge grin, "You do realize that I am Ginny Weasley, and we are in a cave right? You haven't gone mental with all of this alone time sleeping in the woods?"

"Would you rather I was rude to the person who has helped me out for over a month now? The only one who isn't trying to get at me for some reason or another? Unless of course you heard about my reputation with the ladies, in which case I regret to inform you that I am on a path of redemption."

Ginny shot pumpkin juice out of her nose and onto Malfoy's already soiled jumper before she dissolved into an awful cacophony of laughter and choking coughs.

"Now look what you've done. You've spoiled my best jumper!" he said through a face she supposed should look menacing, but the traces of a smile around his mouth ruined the effect.

"Malfoy," she said once she had calmed herself, "you are one of a kind."

His grin quickly dissolved. "Call me Draco. It's my name."

Ginny face softened. "Draco it is. And what lovely company you have been this evening, Draco. I thank you for not murdering me for my imprudence at planning and inviting myself to a dinner party in your lovely home."

Draco chuckled and said, "Not in the slightest, madam, you are welcome to intrude as often as you like."

"Am I?" Ginny asked, though the playfulness in her voice has diminished.

Draco paused then replied, "I don't think you are going to turn me in. Perhaps I would be a more gracious client if I didn't disappear so often when you arrived."

"Perhaps I would like that."

"Then it is done."

The two looked at each other for a few moments before Ginny dropped her gaze to the floor. "Do you get very lonely out here?"

"I always was a bit of a loner. I don't suppose this is much different. Minus the cave and such, of course."

"I would be completely mental by now. Not that I am dependent upon other people for my happiness, of course; I just don't like spending that much time alone. Blame it on being the youngest of a large family."

"Sometimes I envy you."

Ginny was shocked. "You envy me? You, Draco Malfoy, envy a Weasley. Now that is hard to believe."

Draco's expression hardened a bit. "I would think you of all people could look past my name right now. I am obviously not living as a Malfoy. People change."

"I'm sorry. I'm so used to you throwing that at me that I seemed to forget how long it has been since you actually did."

Draco nodded. "I'm sorry I did it."

"I've changed too, you know."

"Have you?" he asked curiously.

"Yes. I realized that I have been a tag-along for most of my life, and that kind of sucks. I realized that I am completely useless in the war, and that also sucks. I also realized that I have behaved like a complete dolt most of the year in my attempts to feign ignorance about what is going on around me, so that… sucks," she finished lamely.

"And what spurred this little path to self-discovery?"

"You, actually. I found you in this cave and stunned you- poor manners, good sir, I apologize for stunning you in your own home." Ginny grinned and Draco nodded smiling. "And then I spent about a week blaming you for all of the world problems short of famine in Africa- I mean I didn't think you were that evil- before I realized that I was just trying to keep myself from feeling anything. Especially about you."

"Especially about me?"

"I didn't know whether I should be angry at you or sad for you or happy that I could send you to Azkaban, which I never really considered," she added seeing the expression on his face.

"Thanks for that… I think."

"Anyway, I tried to be numb, but you just can't do that, you know. You just have to be happy or sad or angry, and just let it be."

"I thought Gryffindors wore their hearts on their sleeves?"

"Ahh, but I am cleverer than the average Gryffindor. In fact, you may be surprised to know that the sorting hat considered putting me in Slytherin."

"It did what!" Draco burst out.

"Whoa. Yeah, but I knew that would be social suicide, so I told him to put me in with the cool kids." As an afterthought she added, "Plus my brothers would have killed me."

The young witch and wizard bantered on and on all night until the first rays of sun started creeping over the horizon.

"I think it is about that time," Ginny noted with a sigh as she stood and stretched.

"Right."

Draco walked Ginny to the front of the cave. She nodded toward him in goodbye and stepped away but he grabbed her arm.

"Ginny, wait. Thanks for the food. And thanks for the company."

"You are very welcome. Maybe next weekend we'll have another little feast? I'll invite myself over?"

Draco smiled. "I would like that."

"Until then," she said.

"Until then."

----

AN: So there you go. Part two. There will be at least one more. I am not a huge fan of having things in even numbers- blame it on my art history training- so it will either be 3 or 5 chapters depending on how the next one goes. This would definitely have been one wildly long oneshot. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thanks to all of you who reviewed my part two.

----

After crashing for a solid five hours, Ginny was forced to awake and be coherent enough to convince the other Gryffindors that sleeping in on a Sunday- well, sleeping almost all day on a Sunday- does not, in fact, mean that she is dying or depressed. Truthfully, she felt considerably better than she had in months.

At dinner that evening in the Great Hall, she pretended to pay attention to poor Neville's story about melting a caldron in potions and turning three Slytherins into rabbits on accident, but she was really working through the details of her last encounter with Draco.

Since when has he been Draco, anyway? Oh right, since last night when we had all of that playful banter. It was rather cute, actually. I mean, no, gross. It was revolting, awful, and a little bit cute. What is wrong with me? Well besides the fact that I spend all of my free time planning little dinner parties with Draco of course. And the fact that the grin on his face as I shot pumpkin juice all over his jumper was… well it was frightening, truth be told. Why should I even notice that? No, I am under a spell. I cannot let this go on any longer. Right. Change of subject. So what should I bring Draco for our next dinner?

_­_----

On Tuesday in Transfiguration, Ginny was supposed to be turning a twig into a recliner. The assignment reminded her of Draco's little handmade chairs. _I was surprised that he could actually do that. Build something with his own two hands. That is assuming that he didn't cheat and use his wand. _

Ginny looked down to see the progress her charm and guffawed loudly when she saw her chair. It was the spitting image of the rustic chairs in Draco's cave.

"That is a good start, Miss Weasley, but I was thinking more gingham and less… bark. Keep trying," said Professor McGonagall as she eyed the chair warily.

I have got to get that boy off my mind. Either I subconsciously created a chair in the image of his, or he cheated and poorly transfigured a twig. No, the boy is a genius- he could have furnished bloody Buckingham Palace. So I've got him on the brain, have I? Interesting.

----

Friday evening rolled around and found Ginny seated near the common room fire diligently pushing ahead on her assignments so that she could make another trip to the cave without neglecting her studies. She was alone- the others were either in their dorms or still at dinner.

All thought of not actually going to see Draco had somehow vanished. She had successfully spent the better part of the day counting down the minutes until the weekend started. Despite her inconsistent attention in class, Ginny's schoolwork had steadily improved over the last few weeks with her visits to Draco. While before she moped around feeling sorry for herself, she now had something to look forward to, and threw herself into her work to pass the time.

A light tapping at the window caught Ginny's attention, and she walked over expecting to see an owl. What she saw instead was quite possibly the most hilarious and ridiculous sight she had ever seen.

A sparrow. There is a sparrow sitting on the windowsill. Ginny tried to focus her tear-filled eyes and contain her mirth long enough to let the poor thing in. And there is his letter to Voldemort. Ginny let out a loud chuckle as she relieved the bird of its miniscule parchment. As soon as his load was removed, the bird twittered and flew out the open window. Ginny returned to her chair by the fire, unrolled the tiny parchment, and read:

I cordially invite you to a

formal dinner at my "Manor"

at sundown on Saturday.

Black tie attire.

No RSVP required, because you will

come, or I will sic my sparrow

on you. She's vicious. Beware.

PS. Do you know how

hard it is to write this small?

I think I've got a hand cramp.

By the end of the letter Ginny was laughing so hard she was hardly even sitting up. Manor? Black tie? Who does this boy think he is? A Malfoy? No, no now he is a Draco. And Dracos live in caves and wear their pumpkin juice. Black tie indeed.

When Dean and Seamus returned from the Great Hall that evening, they saw Ginny by the fire with tearstains down her cheeks writing like mad. It might have been nice for them to check and see if she was okay, but they knew better than to cross a Weasley when she was upset- or so it would seem- and they valued their lives.

----

Finally Saturday evening rolled around and Ginny had prepared a parcel of food for their "formal dinner" and even tried to dress cave "black tie" appropriate. She had gone through her trunk to find a hideously frilly mauve dress robe that her mother always insisted she take- "Just in case, dear," she would say. She wrapped herself tightly in her cloak so as not to humiliate herself in front of the other Gryffindors in the common room, announced she was going for a walk, and disappeared into the shadows on her way to the hunchbacked witch.

----

_Finally I can get rid of this ridiculously heavy food, _Ginny thought as she approached the cave. She pulled her cloak back to reveal her "cocktail dress," and entered the cave. The sight was either completely amazing or absolutely ridiculous.

In the center of the cave were a wobbly looking round table and the two piles of sticks in the form of chairs from before. Atop the table sat a lone candle, and the light danced merrily across Draco Malfoy's form leaning casually against the back wall.

"Ah, you've arrived. Let me help you with that." Draco removed the parcel of food from her hands and placed it on the table, then he helped her remove her cloak and hung it from a rocky outcrop on the cave wall.

Noting the improvised coat hook, Ginny said, "Very nice. Is that the new style from France?"

"Oh yes, anyone who is anyone has done away with brass coat racks. Only rocky walls for us style buffs. And speaking of style! That gown is just ravishing! The moth-eaten appearance of the lace really gives it some texture, and the mauve- what can I say? It does wonders for your complexion."

"Oh yes, but your tuxedo, sir, puts my gown to shame. And these cufflinks- what are they made of?"

"Pebbles from the riverbed."

"Pebbles? Indeed. I'll have to remember that."

Ginny's self control at holding up her act quickly fell through as Draco did a little spin for her to show off his "tuxedo." To see Draco Malfoy standing in a cave wearing the most tattered robe she had ever seen- it seemed to be patched with leaves and bits of grass- and boasting about his pebble cufflinks was too much for any one person to handle. Ron had not even looked this horrible for the Yule Ball his fourth year. No, Draco was probably the worst dressed person on the planet at the moment, and Ginny had fought the giggles long enough.

She burst out laughing, but quickly covered her mouth and stifled then when she saw Draco's stern expression. He led her to the table and pulled her chair out for her. _Game or not, Draco Malfoy just pulled my chair out for me. That is amazing._ "Thank you," she said, and he inclined his head toward her as he sat.

"Now let's see what my house elves have prepared for us."

The evening progressed with more clever banter as it had the weekend before until a sparrow flew into the cave and alighted on Draco's shoulder.

"Made a new friend, have you?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, well, your idea of communicating by sparrow was ingenious. For nearby correspondence, anyway. And very small letters. You know sparrows are actually quite strong for their size, but I thought she might not appreciate a cumbersome roll of parchment when I could just take the time to write very small."

"And you were quite successful. I almost thought that I would need a magnifying glass to decipher it." Ginny's face lit up in a wide smile as she teased the hideously-dressed blonde boy in front of her.

"You know, from your tone one might think you were trying to flirt with me."

Ginny's grin dropped and she tried, but failed, to sputter out excuses. A pink tint spread over her cheeks, but Draco's grin only widened.

"A bit touchy, are we? I was only teasing."

Ginny avoided eye contact for a few moments. _I was definitely flirting. What the bloody hell is wrong with me? I spend all of my time either thinking about Malfoy or risking my neck to visit him. This is madness. And it has to stop. _She stood abruptly, and Draco's eyes widened as he moved swiftly toward her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Don't leave."

Ginny sighed. "Draco this is wrong. I can't keep doing this."

"Because I am a Malfoy?" he asked, his tone icy.

"Not really. No, I just… It's dangerous. Either one of us could get caught. And I'm sure that you know as well as I that outside this cave we could never be friends like this. We lead separate lives. Very separate. And I'm sorry if I was flirting."

Neither of the grins that had graced both faces were anywhere to be seen. Ginny looked unhappy and confused, and Draco looked completely and utterly dejected.

"Ginny, I don't know if you have noticed, but I don't have a life outside of this cave anymore. So whatever preconceived notions you have about what it would be like if we weren't in this immediate situation are completely inane. And it is dangerous, and I wish it wasn't the case, but I am loathe to let whatever this is end because of it. The Dark Lord has already ruined any chance I had at… well pretty much anything. Don't let him ruin this too. And… well, maybe I liked you flirting."

Ginny caught his eyes and searched for a joke, but all she saw was sincerity. And a little timidity. She took a step toward him. "Draco, I don't put my friends in danger when I can avoid it. Do you consider yourself my friend?"

"I'd like to be."

"Then I can't keep doing this. Every time I come out here I risk being followed. I am like a walking billboard for your location. I am careful, but everyone makes mistakes, and I know that I am pushing it."

In a voice so soft it was almost a whisper, Draco said, "You can't leave me out here alone. You just… can't."

Ginny's eyes fluttered closed, and she took a deep breath. She reached for his hand, gave it a squeeze, and said, "I'm sorry, Draco," before turning to walk away.

"Ginny, wait!" he called, but she grabbed her cloak and disappeared into the darkness without turning back to him.

Minutes later, Ginny was huddled at the base of a large oak sobbing. _When did things become so complicated? _she thought. _When did I get so emotionally invested in this? And why on earth did I just do this to myself?_

The answer was not too difficult to find, though. Her little trips out of the school had started off as fun and games, then became a charity to a boy she thought she hated, and finally ended up as secret meetings between friends. She had been so selfish since the first day of her sixth year. She had been angry with the trio for leaving her instead of understanding that it was something they had to do together, and she had been angry with her professors for being so overprotective instead of understanding that they were just trying to keep her safe. And just to make herself feel better about her life, she had thrown it all back in their faces and done the stupidest thing possible- she snuck out of the protections offered and wandered around at night alone. Then when she met Draco she had the opportunity to do something- she could have turned him over to the Order of the Phoenix who were expending long hours trying to find the boy- but instead she chose to continue her game further endangering herself and him.

Now she was in trouble. She could turn him in "for his own good," which would ruin anything she had accomplished and positively destroy any sense of self-worth he still had, not to mention she would break a promise to him. Or she could forget about him and let him continue his solitary caveman existence. But she knew she wouldn't be able to do that for long, so here she sat sobbing as if her heart were breaking.

----

AN: I wanted to make it a bit longer for you, and I apologize for that, but this was the logical place to break- for this chapter. I won't leave you here, because that would be cruel. I do think that if I were less of a hopeless romantic this might be a more reasonable place to cut the story considering where I plan on it going, but reason be damned. Anyway. You've got a couple more chapters of this failed oneshot left. Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thank you to all of my reviewers. I hope that you enjoy this chapter- it's not as exciting as some of the others, but it is necessary.

----

Chilly nights quickly turned into blustery snowstorms, and Ginny was frequently kept up to all hours of the night wondering if her friend in the cave was safe. Just as often, though, she reminded herself that he did have a wand and was competent enough to use it. Several times she had resolved to check up on Draco and bring him supplies, but it quickly crumbled as she forced herself to remember that if she did, she would put him and herself in danger.

While Ginny's concern for Draco tormented her, an entirely different feeling tormented Draco Malfoy- rage. He was furious that she had come in the first place, that she had _pitied _him! Imagine a Weasley pitying a Malfoy and offering charity. And he had been too weak to refuse as he ought to have. He should have disappeared after she first set foot in his cave, but like a pathetic little dog begging for table scraps he had stuck around accepting all that she offered. Then she had come and played little games with him; she had tricked him into thinking that he needed companionship, that he wasn't strong enough to handle it alone. And she had the audacity to _flirt_ with him, and worse, to make him think he had liked it! As if he would ever have accepted it without a spell. She had cursed him, and he had fallen for it. Worst of all, just when she had convinced him that he needed her and she wanted him, she left. The little hussy up and left him to starvation and cold. He was furious and vowed that if ever he saw her again he would show her just who the more powerful wizard was. He would show her the true strength of a Malfoy.

That was how Draco justified staying in the cave instead of leaving. He could hardly exact revenge from a cozy little cottage on the continent, so he braved the cold and the hunger, only using his wand near the village and very scarcely so as not to draw attention to his existence. He existed in a crazed state near death with naught but vengeance in his mind all day. At night, though, thoughts of vengeance were gone, and he dreamt of lavish dinner parties with a mysterious redheaded guest, but he never remembered the dreams when he awoke.

----

The Christmas holiday sprung upon Ginny with little warning. She had been so absorbed in school and forgetting about a certain blonde that time had flown by, and the next thing she knew, she was on the Hogwarts Express on her way into London for a holiday at Grimmauld Place.

Ginny had been looking forward to the holiday and familiar faces for weeks now. She needed the comfort and companionship that her brothers had always offered her. Usually it came from Ron, who though he had an unorthodox way of showing it, was really very close to his only sister, but she knew better than to expect them to pop back from their mission for a bit of holiday cheer.

What a surprise it was for her, then, when she had finally detached her mother from herself at the platform long enough to get to 12 Grimmauld Place and find her favorite brother waiting anxiously in the front hall.

"Ron!" Ginny shouted as she launched herself at her brother, all of her belongings unceremoniously dumped on the floor. "You came back!" Ginny latched herself onto her brother squeezing tightly as if he might disappear if she left go. Unbidden tears sprang to her eyes and she clutched him. "I missed you! You came back for me!"

Mrs. Weasley gave her two youngest children a sad smile as she gathered Ginny's things and made her way up the stairs to deposit them in her room.

Finally Ron was able to pry Ginny away long enough to get a good look at her. "Gin? Why are you crying? You never cry," he asked concerned.

"I'm not…" she said wiping her face and looking surprised to see dampness on her fingers, but she shrugged it off. "I just… I missed you. School has been awful."

Moments later Hermione stepped out of the library and caught sight of Ginny. "Ginny! It's so great to see you! How is your sixth year? Learn anything new?"

Ginny let out a small laugh that finally let out her pent up sadness and relief at seeing her friends again to find that they had not changed at all. "Yeah, I've learned a little," Ginny conceded, and Hermione nodded with a smile.

Ron suggested that they go into the kitchen to get a snack and see Harry who was anxious to see her. When they entered, Ginny saw Harry at the table with a solemn expression speaking in hushed tones with Remus Lupin, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of her, he was out of his seat and across the room giving her a big hug.

"It's great to see you, Ginny," he said finally, and Ginny just smiled in response. The boy used to make her weak at the knees, but at the moment all she felt was companionship. _When did that happen? _she wondered. _When did I get over Harry?_ Those thoughts were removed when he took her by the hand and led her to the table where she found immense piles of sweets- her mother knew her daughter very well.

"So how has school been?" Harry asked, his mouth full of candies.

"Just school. Nothing exciting happens without you lot around." _Liar_, she thought to herself. _Plenty happened, but you can't talk about it, can you?_

"I'm sure you've been stirring up plenty of trouble, anyway, though, haven't you? You're not as sweet and innocent as Mum wants to think. Take after Fred and George, you do," Ron noted with a touch of pride in his voice.

Ginny smiled serenely at Ron and replied, "A bit. Nothing to write home about, though," _because I can't, _she added miserably and silently.

Ginny was spared the rest of the "welcome home, how was school" questions by the entrance of her mother who shooed them all out to cook supper, but Ginny decided to stay behind and help.

After a few minutes of silently preparing ingredients for her mother, Ginny was jarred back to reality by a question.

"Who is he?"

"Who is who, Mum?"

"The boy that you are thinking about." _How does she know all of this? Mothers have a sixth sense that allows them to know everything that goes on in their child's mind. It's just not fair._

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about."

"Come now, Ginny, you can tell me," her mother prodded gently.

"I don't really want to talk about it, Mum."

"Ah, but there is someone, isn't there?"

Ginny sighed. "Not in the way you are thinking. Besides, I thought you liked Harry, and wanted us to get married and have lots of babies."

Mrs. Weasley reddened a bit. "Well, that would be nice, I suppose, but I don't think that is what you want anymore."

_How does she know these things!_

"Okay, Mum, here are the potatoes," Ginny replied changing the subject. Mrs. Weasley gave her a knowing look, but dropped the topic.

----

A few days before Christmas the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione made a trip to Diagon Alley to finish up their holiday shopping. After much convincing, Ginny finally escaped from the others long enough to buy their gifts, and on her way back to The Leaky Caldron to meet them thirty minutes later, she stopped to admire a small snowglobe in a shop window.

The sign read, "Included with the globe is a simple to charm for you to customize the objects within the globe." Ginny frowned at the display of empty snowglobes for a moment before entering the shop and purchasing one.

When everyone had reassembled, the group made their way back to Grimmauld Place laden with packages. Ginny immediately dashed to her room where she quickly and sloppily wrapped her other gifts, then sat staring at the small, empty snowglobe, the directions in her hand.

She struggled mentally over what to do with it. _Why did you buy it if you don't even know what you are going to do with it?_ she thought angrily to herself. _Because you do know, you just don't want to admit it. _Ginny frowned. _I can't send it to him. First of all, Pig would never be able to find him, and second how would it look for an owl to be delivering packages to the middle of the woods? It would look like someone was sending a package to Hogwarts. No one would notice that it didn't go all the way. But I can't risk blowing his cover. Besides, he's probably moved by now… I'm sure he has enough common sense not to stay in the same place for too long. _It saddened her to think that he had left the cave, but it would not surprise her. _What if I never see him again? What if he didn't realize why I left? Maybe he is mad at me. And he is all alone on Christmas. It's not right. A small package won't hurt anything. _She had made up her mind. Draco would indeed be receiving a Christmas gift.

She spent a good long while trying to decide what to charm inside of the globe. She thought about putting a little weasel figure and a ferret figure, but wondered if he even knew that people called him that, and if he would be offended instead of amused. Finally, at dinner the night before Christmas Eve, she had a stroke of inspiration and abruptly left the table to strange looks from the people around her.

Christmas had always been quite a production in the Weasley household, and it always began on Christmas Eve. This year, Mrs. Weasley had managed to get all of her children into one house, and all the boys plus the Order members made for a very chaotic day full of holiday cheer and festivities. After an enormous dinner, Ginny found Ron on her way up to bed.

"Ron, could I borrow Pig tonight? I want to send a gift."

Ron eyed her suspiciously for a moment and said, "Yeah, I guess. Who is he? Do I need to beat him up?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a smile. He had always looked out for her, and though it was really sweet, it was also entirely unnecessary. "No, Ron. It is nothing for you to worry about. Not a boyfriend."

Ron brightened a bit. "Alright then." Then he pulled her into a hug, kissed her on the head and said, "Goodnight, Ginny. See you in the morning- Christmas!"

Ginny smiled and said goodnight, before dashing down to the kitchen where Pig was zooming circles around and irritated looking Mrs. Weasley. "Dear? Will you get rid of this menace before I hurt something."

"Yeah, Mum." She collected Pig and made her way back up to her room, hoping that Hermione was still talking to Harry and Ron in the library. She was. Ginny fastened the small parcel to Pig's outstretched leg, and said, "I know it doesn't say who it is addressed to, but please try and find him. Draco Malfoy," she said. Ginny could have sworn that the little owl gave her a stern look before swooping out the window.

_The owl is judging me_, she thought miserably. _I have probably just done something really stupid. I'm sure he hates me anyway. _Ginny has half a mind to call the owl back, but knew that it was too late and by tomorrow morning Draco would wake up to a Christmas present, wherever he was.

----

Of course, Draco was still moodily sitting in his cave by a small fire. To add to his poor spirits, tomorrow was bloody Christmas day. When he was very young, he really enjoyed Christmas, but a single day when he was seven ruined the whole experience and since then he had dreaded it.

Seven-year old Draco Malfoy was in Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley while his mum finished up a bit of holiday shopping. He had spent the morning going door to door and pointing out all of the presents he wanted, then she dropped him off and went back to purchase every singe item. It wasn't much of a surprise, but he was excited for all of the new things nonetheless.

As he sat staring aimlessly ahead, a Christmas book caught his eye with the picture of some hairy green monster. He had thought it strange to put a monster on the cover of a Christmas book, so he picked it up. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," he read aloud noting that it was a muggle book.

Draco sunk into a deep armchair in a dark corner and devoured the book. He loved everything about it. The Whos were wonderful and the Grinch was redeemed! It was a wonderful book, he decided.

He was broken from his reverie as he received a hard crack on the head. He looked up to see the stormy eyes of his father looking down at him.

"What is the matter with you boy? Do you know what that piece of filth is?"

"Where is mother?" Draco asked.

"She sent me to get you. She has been invited to tea with some very important women. It is lucky I came anyway. No doubt she would have been too soft on you in punishment for this," he brandished his cane at the book Draco was still clutching and sent it skidding across the floor before grabbing his son roughly by the arm and dragging him out of the shop.

That afternoon he received the worst punishment yet and learned his lesson about muggle related things. While it had nothing to do with Christmas itself, Draco had never been able to think of the holiday without remembering the incident.

Now, sitting in his cave lording over the forest and nearby Hogsmeade, he felt like the Grinch, and the villagers were the Whos. He wanted to go down their and steal away all of their cheer, because never in his entire miserable existence had he been so wretchedly unhappy.

It was in this mood that the small owl found Draco hours later. It dropped to the ground in front of him and waited expectantly, if not patiently, for him to remove his parcel. Draco just stared at it for a few minutes before it started hooting and hopping up and down. He gave a frustrated sigh and removed the package with a little more force than necessary, and the owl flew away indignantly.

Draco rolled the small brown package over in his hands, staring uncomprehendingly at it. _How dare she do this to me_, he thought. _Hasn't she done enough already without mocking me by sending false Christmas gifts. I hate her. I hate the little redheaded bint. I don't even want her stupid gift. _With that, he threw the unopened package against the wall and heard it shatter.

Before he realized what he was doing, he was on his hands and knees trying to pick up the broken pieces of his gift. He wasn't even sure what it was, but it seemed his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest with sorrow at what he had done. He had destroyed her gift. He hadn't even looked at it, and he had destroyed it. He crawled around in the dim light getting bits of shattered glass in his hands and knees looking for any piece that would tell him what it had once been. And then he found it.

He carefully picked up the base of the snowglobe and carried it over to the fire so that he could inspect it. What he saw made him gasp with an overwhelming emotion that he never known before. Attached to the golden base of the globe was a scene from an elegant dinner party. The two figures were a stately looking tall blonde in elegant robes and a small redheaded figure dressed in a flowing green gown. The two were dancing and looked entirely blissful.

Draco wanted to be that man. He wanted to be in a ballroom surrounded by nice things and fine food holding the gorgeous redhead in the green gown. Instead he was slowly freezing to death alone in a cave. To make matters worse, he had just received the best Christmas gift of his life, and in a blind fit of rage had destroyed it.

Malfoys are not supposed to feel emotion, and for that reason they certainly do not cry, but as he sat in solitude wishing desperately undo everything his eyes became wet and glossy, and a single tear inched its way down his cheek. No one would ever know, not even Draco himself had noticed, because he was too caught up in his own grief as he delicately cradled the small figure close to him.

----

AN: Well this chapter wasn't much for those romance seekers, but it is setting up some important things. It was supposed to go up earlier this afternoon, but I fell asleep while writing and woke up four hours later. Anyway, please review!


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thanks to all of my faithful reviewers. This is the end- I hope you liked my story- if you haven't already pop me a review and let me know what you think.

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Before she knew it, Christmas holiday was over, and Ginny was preparing to get back on the train to Hogwarts. As she went to say goodbye to Harry and the others, however, she found out that they intended to take the train with her.

"We have some business in Hogsmeade, so we are going to ride with you."

Ginny frowned. _What business could they possibly have in Hogsmeade? _Ginny thought, and she saw Hermione exchange a worried glance with Ron, but the look passed as quickly as it had come and Ginny couldn't be sure she had seen it.

Ginny spent most of the train ride in uncomfortable silence, wondering what the trio was planning on doing in Hogsmeade. To further her discomfort about having them anywhere near Draco, Lupin and Tonks had come along. _Why are they going to Hogsmeade? It doesn't make any sense. _Finally her curiosity won out and she asked.

Ron looked questioningly at Harry who sighed and nodded his head. "Um, Gin," Ron began, "There have been reports that Malfoy was seen somewhere around Hogsmeade." Ginny choked and broke into a loud coughing fit. Ron looked distinctly disgruntled and continued. "We didn't want you to worry, so we didn't say anything. Lupin and Tonks are going to try and convince him to come back with us. As for myself, I'd rather just hex him into oblivion and leave him the Death Eaters."

"Ron!" Ginny shouted, suddenly over her coughs. "That is awful! How could you say that? Have you ever thought that maybe these past months have been horrible on him? Everyone wants to capture him for their own means, and no one stops to think that maybe he just wants to be left alone!"

"Ginny," began Harry, "you do realize that this is Malfoy that you are talking about? You hate him."

"Oh, just shut up, Harry," Ginny said and abruptly stood to exit the compartment, but when she opened the door she saw Tonks and Lupin standing just outside and thought better of leaving. She turned back to her friends, glared at them, and sunk into her seat to ignore them for the rest of the trip. Ginny didn't notice the looks passing between the others who all considered her behavior highly unorthodox and suspicious.

----

Night had finally fallen over the castle and found Ginny, not curled up in her warm bed, but piled under layers of clothing sneaking through the corridors to the familiar statue of a hunchbacked witch. She had decided that cover be damned, she needed to warn him to get out of there before the nosy Order found him.

Ginny rushed through Hogsmeade paying little attention to keeping undercover, because it was a crisp night, and she didn't think anyone else would be foolish enough to run around town. It was strange to follow the path that she had walked so regularly for weeks. She was more than a little worried about how he would receive her after so long a time, but hoped that the gift would have softened him up a bit.

Ginny jogged the final distance to the cave and arrived out of breath to an alarmed looking Draco. Almost instantly the surprise on his face hardened into an expression of anger.

"What are you doing here?"

Ginny finally caught her breath, conjured up a bag and started shoving his things into it to a strangled sound by Draco. "You've got to go! The Order knows you are out here."

"What did you tell them?"

"Me?" Ginny looked completely taken aback. "I didn't tell them anything. There were supposedly sightings around here."

"And I am supposed to believe that?" he asked maliciously as he watched her shoving his things into a bag.

"Of course you are!" Ginny shouted in frustration. Then she found something that made her stop her wild "packing."

"The snowglobe," she said, picking it up and looking at Draco. She could tell that the globe had shattered and he had tried to reparo it, but it was difficult to put something like that back together, so the glass looked cracked and fragmented, and the water and snow from inside were gone.

Draco's expression turned to one that Ginny couldn't decipher as he walked over, took it out of his hand and put it in his pocket.

"You broke it?" Ginny asked feeling hurt.

"Yes," Draco replied without offering an explanation. Ginny stared at him for a few moments before collecting herself mentally and resuming her packing.

"You still need to get out of here tonight."

"I'm not going to run away."

"Draco, don't be stupid. Just get your things and go. They will find you by morning, I swear to you."

Whatever Draco was going to say in response was cut off by a sound outside the cave. "Draco, stay here," Ginny commanded.

"Not bloody likely," he responded and began to step forward.

"Immobulus!" Draco stopped in his tracks, but his eyes glared furiously at the redhead whose wand was pointed at him. "Stay here."

Ginny took a deep breath and went out to confront her friends, who she was sure were standing just outside the cave, but the voice she heard from the shadows was not what she expected and it froze her to the bone.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" the cold voice of Lucius Malfoy drawled.

Ginny steeled herself and turned to face the man that had tried to turn her into a murderer and kill her in her first year. She glared confidently at him.

"Mm, yes you are quite fierce, aren't you? You are also quite stupid. You led me here from town. In your haste to get out here to save this pathetic excuse for a pureblood, you have condemned him."

Ginny's glare faltered momentarily, but she recovered quickly. "You do realize that you are talking about your own son!"

"He is no son of mine. My son would not have been a coward and left his dirty work to others. He would have been proud of the task set to him, and he would have honored his family."

"Do you always do your own dirty work, Lucius?" she spat out angrily. "Is that why you give an eleven year old a diary to bring back Riddle instead of doing it yourself? And I'll have you know that he was trying to _save_ his family when he had mercy on Dumbledore- he was offered protection for his mother, your _wife_! Not that you care about anyone other than yourself."

"You have a lot of guts, little girl," he said coolly.

Ignoring him, she continued, "If you did, you would see that Draco is a _wonderful_ person, he makes excellent grades, and is very gifted in potions- he would have been Head Boy this year. You poisoned him with your bigoted beliefs and denied him his chance at a normal life! And now look him! He's…" but whatever he was, Ginny never finished because he didn't notice the flick of Lucius's wrist in time.

"Crucio!" Ginny was on the ground writhing in pain and screaming. _I am dying. I am dying. I am dying_, she thought over and over. Finally the pain subsided, and she shakily made her way to her feet.

"You should learn how to speak to your superiors," Lucius drawled lazily while leaving his wand pointed at the girl.

"I'll remember that if I ever meet one." Ginny saw the flash in his eyes and threw up a shield charm instantly; Lucius's curse bounced harmlessly away.

Lucius's eyes narrowed in anger and frustration, and Ginny pulled every ounce of determination in her body to glare at him directly in the eyes. Again, she saw a flash in his eyes, and threw up a shield and immediately counted with expelliarmus. She was as shocked as he to find his was in her hand.

"Why you insolent…" he lunged for her, and in that instant she shouted a binding spell and snapped his wand.

_What the bloody hell just happened? _Ginny thought staring at Lucius Malfoy's immobilized body and his broken wand. _Was it supposed to be that easy? How did I…_ but her musing trailed off as she moved to take a step away, and she realized the pain that was coursing through her body. She winced, then collected herself, added a couple of extra binding spells to the man's body and stunned him. _Just in case_, she thought, then she stumbled into the cave, leaving the man in the moonless night outside.

As she got to Draco's fire, she sunk to the ground groaning in pain, and he eyes fluttered closed. It wasn't until minutes later that she realized that Draco was still immobilized. Without opening her eyes, Ginny weakly lifted her arm and muttered the countercurse in his direction.

Immediately he was at her side. "Ginny, you idiot, what is the matter with you? How could be so stupid? You could have died! Bloody Gryffindors and their bloody courage. You are nothing but a bunch of fools!" All the while, Draco was patting Ginny's body looking for any broken bones or anything he could help with. He knew first hand the feeling of crucio, and knew that there was nothing he could do to alleviate her pain, but it didn't stop him trying. Moments later, though, he gave up and took her hand in his.

"Draco, I am sorry. I didn't want to leave."

"I know. It was that bloody Gryffindor nobility. I really hate Gryffindors, you know," he added, without a trace of malice in his voice.

"You should go- the Order is still looking for you."

"Right. I am going to leave you in here like this? We need to get you back to the school. Madam Pomfrey has got all sorts of pain relieving potions, and you need a good night's sleep."

Ginny forced herself to sit up and began to stand to the disapproval of Draco. When he tried to keep her down, she swatted his hand away and stood shakily. "I can take care of myself, Draco. You need to take care of yourself."

The two froze as they heard a shout coming from the darkness outside the cave. They both trained their wands on the cave entrance as a pair of figures entered: Lupin and Tonks.

"Wotcher, Ginny," said Tonks looking strangely cheery.

"Go away," Ginny said coldly.

"Ginny, put your wand down," said Lupin calmly.

Another figure came rushing in from the darkness. "Did you find her?" Ron asked in a panicky voice before he noticed her. "Ginny!" he cried and ran toward her.

"Stop, Ron," she said not lowering her wand.

"Ginny? What is wrong? Are you alright? We heard you scream. Lucius Malfoy is bound up outside the cave! What the bloody hell is going on?" Then he added, "Ginny, put your wand down."

"No! You all need to leave!" she shouted. Draco stood a few feet behind her watching in fascination, but grimaced as Harry and Hermione entered and joined the crowd.

"He's been stunned," Harry said as he entered, then noticed the raised wands and Ginny. "Ginny! You are okay! We heard you scream and came as fast as we could. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but you all need to leave." Harry looked confused.

"Ginny, come on, don't be ridiculous, this is Malfoy, and it's not like we are going to hurt him. We're trying to help him."

"Did you ask if he wants your help? He hates you! What would ever possess him to take your charity?" she shouted crazily.

The others exchanged wary glances and Lupin cautiously stepped forward. "Ginny, please step out of the way. We just want to talk to him. Let us talk. You don't need your wand for that."

"Leave us alone!"

Harry stepped forward, and Ginny had a curse halfway out of her mouth before her wand was sent flying out of her hand, and Draco caught it nimbly. She turned wildly and looked at him. The others stood back.

"Draco, what are you doing? Give me my wand."

"Ginny, it is not necessary. Just calm down."

Obviously that was not the right thing to say to her. Ginny advanced on him, her voice raising as she spoke. "No! You don't know what you are doing! You can't go with them! You will be miserable!" and her voice started to drop back down. "Draco, they would ruin you. They aren't doing it for you. They want to use you for information. They would treat you like a slave and lock you up just like they did with Sirius until you were completely mad. They would ruin you," she repeated, her tone laced with defeat.

"Ginny, if you think that I am any less of a slave right now, then you are completely mental. And maybe I have learned that I want to help them, because my father was right, I am a pathetic Death Eater. I don't want to be one. Besides, if I went with them, you wouldn't have to ignore me 'for our own good' anymore," he added quietly.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked like they would be sick at the familiarity between the two. Lupin looked confused but pleased, and Tonks had a silly grin on her face.

Ginny took a deep breath and sighed. So quietly that only Draco could hear, Ginny said,  
"Please, Draco. Think of yourself. Don't do this because of me."

Just as quietly he responded, "I am thinking of myself, I am a Slytherin." He smirked. "I've been crazy without you." Ginny frowned, and Draco pulled the snowglobe out of his pocket and held it in front of her. "I want this," he said quietly. "The sooner this war is over, the sooner I can have it. I can help. I know I can."

Ginny looked in his eyes pleadingly once more, but knew his mind was made up. She grabbed her wand out of his hand and sunk to the floor. Her hand flew to her chest as she tried to relax and get over the pain, both physically and mentally. Draco stepped up beside her, his hand placed comfortingly on her shoulder.

"I'll go with you," he said.

"Good, now let's get out of here, and get Miss Weasley to bed," Lupin said, motioning for the others to leave the cave. "Tonks, will you deal with Lucius while I get the others back to Grimmauld Place?" Tonks gave a quick nod and made toward the man's prone body.

----

Ginny awoke with a groan feeling very groggy. _I really hate Dreamless Sleep draughts_, she thought miserably without evening bothering to open her eyes. A noise at her side, however, caused her to pry them open. There, looking thoroughly disheveled, was Draco Malfoy, and Ginny tried not to laugh aloud. He was hunched over in a chair trying to sleep; his hair was completely mussed, his clothes wrinkled, and his mouth hanging open. _So much for charming_, she thought beaming. _I think I prefer this to the dirty robes and greasy hair he sported out in the woods. Plus he smells much fresher. _

"What are you grinning about?" Draco asked without opening his eyes.

"How did you know that I…" She was cut off by his reply.

"I can feel it. And you can't make fun of the way I am sleeping, you were snoring all night, and you drooled all over your pillow."

"I did not," she replied indignantly rubbing her hand along the pillow under her head to find that it was indeed damp. She grimaced. _How embarrassing!_ "Why did you stick around if it was so revolting, then?" she asked.

"That is what friends do, isn't it? Sit by the other's death bed and stick up to each other's fathers?"

Ginny's eyes softened as she gazed at the boy in silence. After she didn't reply, he finally opened his eyes looking a bit nervous, but smiled when he saw her expression.

Finally Ginny spoke. "You know, I really missed you. I thought I was helping, but I only managed to make things worse."

"If worse means that I have a roof over my head, a shower nearby, food on a real table, and the only people who are out to get me are trying to make me do chores instead of kill me, then yeah, you made things horrible. Bloody terrible. Can't stand it. Especially when I have to sit here watching this bloody redhead drool all over herself. That's the worst part."

"You prat," Ginny replied playfully. "Where are the others?" she asked.

"I think Weasel was feeling a bit sick. Something about me wanting to be with you really upset his stomach. And Potter is off sulking, because you stood up for me. Oh and Granger is dirtying her nose with book ink again."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Bloody forever. I would have starved to death if I didn't have your mother here. Cooks better than a house elf, that woman."

Ginny smiled and her stomach growled betraying her hunger.

"Aha! I was wondering when you would ask, milady," Draco said grinning as he stood and walked to a table at the side of the room. "It is breakfast in bed for you."

Ginny clapped her hands in delight. "I love breakfast in bed!"

"Quiet now. If anyone else hears that you are awake, I will have to share, and I am not ready for that. Especially if old lover boy comes back in here."

Ginny looked at his questioningly before she asked, "Lover boy?"

"Potter," Draco bit out sullenly. "He's been sulking around here waiting for you to wake up so he can reaffirm his love or something. You know, you shouldn't flirt with other boys if you are still dating someone else."

Ginny gagged before she was able to contain herself, and Draco looked at her curiously. "Please tell me you are kidding."

"No…" Draco trailed off, his eyes searching hers.

"Harry and I are over. He's just a friend. If he thinks it is any more, I am sorry, but he is sorely misled."

"Really?" Draco asked a little more enthusiastically than he would have liked.

"What is it to you?" she asked challengingly at the blonde in front of her.

"Well, it is rude to kiss someone who is already taken, but if you are not, it might not be as presumptuous."

Ginny nodded as a grin broke out on her face. "I think that would be a fair assessment."

Draco's eyes clouded over as he stared at her a moment before stepping over to her bed and pushing her food to the floor.

"I wasn't done yet!" she cried in mock concern.

"Be quiet and let me kiss you."

Ginny leaned forward and met Draco's lips with her own. A tingle ran down her spine as he reached his hand up and held the back of her neck gently and he tenderly deepened the kiss. Ginny was only too happy to oblige. It felt as if the world had started spinning; Ginny was dizzy with emotion as she clung to the boy in front of her, kissing him as she had unconsciously wanted to every since she saw those bloody pebble cufflinks.

When he finally broke away, Ginny looked into his eyes trying to read his expression. _Had he liked it? Am I a horrible kisser?_

Finally he broke the silence and said, "You have morning breath," and Ginny's face fell and turned bright red. "But I don't mind," he continued, taking her chin into his hand and catching her eyes, "because I have waited for that moment since you stepped into my cave wearing that atrocious robe. I wanted to kiss you every time you opened you mouth."

Ginny began to reply, and he leaned in and cut her off with a kiss. "I told you," he said when he finally broke away. "It's a bit of a menace, really." Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Well you are actually pretty witty, and it takes everything I have to try and pay attention to your words instead of your mouth."

"Draco Malfoy, do you always talk to the ladies like this?" Ginny asked teasingly, putting her finger to his lips as he leaned in to cut her off with another kiss.

"No," he said resolutely. "I've never wanted anything as much as I want this. And that is saying something because second year I _really _wanted that Nimbus 2001 so I could destroy Harry on the pitch."

"Ah, such sweet words," Ginny said with a smile as she leaned in to kiss him again.

"Ginny, dear, do you want some more…" Mrs. Weasley bustled into the room carrying a steaming tray of breakfast, but stopped as she saw her daughter attached to their newest guest.

Ginny and Draco pulled away quickly; Ginny reddened and Draco had the grace to look ashamed of himself.

"I was just bringing you some more food. I figured he had eaten all of the food I left for you. He's quite the pig, you know," Mrs. Weasley added teasingly to her daughter.

Draco coughed and said, "It's not my fault it is so good."

"Of course not, dear. Anyway, more food," and she set the tray down on the table where the other had been. She was almost out the door, before she turned back and with a twinkle in her eyes said, "You know, dear, you are lucky I wasn't Ron, he would have had kittens. You should be a bit more careful around that one."

"Yes, Mum," Ginny replied humiliated.

"Now, I'll be going. Get back to whatever you were doing before I interrupted," and Mrs. Weasley closed the door behind her.

"Mum!" Ginny cried in a scandalized voice, and Draco just started laughing. "She's gone completely barmy!" Ginny cried motioning to the door.

"No, she is just very perceptive. She confronted me when I first got here and asked me my 'intentions.'"

"She did not?"

"I assure you she did, though at the time I thought it pointless because I assumed Potter was right."

"No, he was wrong. My Mum knew all along." Ginny sighed. "No doubt my brother will be up here any minute to check on me."

"Can I kiss you one more time before he realizes? Otherwise I might lose control and do it at the dinner table or something."

Ginny nodded and leaned into him again to get lost in another kiss.

----

AN: Well I pondered breaking this one in half, but I figured you were all ready for a bit of fluff, and I felt bad sending you another angsty one. So here you are. The end. If I get enough reviews, I may consider an epilogue (is evil). REVIEW!


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